L Studio, the broadband entertainment community that I designed for Lexus, launched its beta last week. What is L Studio? Here’s what Reuters news agency had to say…

“The carmaker is launching an Internet-only branded channel Tuesday (September 23) stocked with a full slate of original programing headlined by [Lisa] Kudrow [from Friends] in a shortform comedy series in which she plays a nutty shrink.

In an effort to keep the buzz going for the project, Lexus plans to recruit more celebrity contributors in the coming months. For now, the rest of L Studio is an eclectic mix of high-toned nonfiction programing that concerns everything from art to architecture to science. Some notable figures who are profiled on the site include the Doors’ Ray Manzarek and designer Patricia Field.

Taken together, the connective thread between the programing mix and the Lexus brand, Blanchard said, is the theme of innovation. “We kind of look at ourselves as a broadband HBO,” she said. “Being on broadband in and of itself is innovative for a lot of these artists.”

I can’t wait until it’s finished, and everything is running smoothly. Lisa Kudrow’s “Web Therapy” series is pretty damn funny! And so is Starlee and Arthur Review. Go check it out.

—– here’s a positive review of the content.

—– here’s an article from the Hollywood Reporter.

Lexus vehicles have a well-deserved reputation for quality, dependability, and reliability. We needed to excite prospects by redefining the brand, so we introduced the concept of technological innovation inherent in each and every new Lexus vehicle.

While there are several ways to entice consumers to purchase a new vehicle, we had to identify attributes that would influence the user to choose a Lexus based on the features relatable to their world.

The new innovation section of Lexus.com uses a minimal, block world, with futuristic red toy cars in a fun and interactive demo environment to simplify the concept of some complex, innovative features.

What do you think about the Lexus Innovation Site?

If you have a very small monitor, please click here.

http://lexus.com/innovation

The Lexus 2008 LS Hybrid Overlay Launch Site that I art directed for Team One finally launched this week. It features beautiful still photography from my shoot with Anton Watts last month. I have also included some of the new photography in my portfolio above.

I also designed some cool interactive ad banners: LSh 336×280 Message Board , LSh 728×90 Lederboard & LSh 160×600 Skyscraper. that drive traffic to this site from popular automotive portals.

The Lexus Presskits website recieved a facelift with a collapsible horizontal scroller on the bottom. And full CMS for adding events via http interface. Targeted for 1024×764 monitors. More pages after you click the image.

Our target was clear on the rational superiority of Lexus, but less so on what defines a strong emotional relationship with the LS. We needed to heighten the emotional feeling for the LS, and create desire rather than just a rational appreciation. And we needed to do that for ultra busy executives who don’t have the time to play around.

The Lexus 2007 LS Launch Site features beautiful intro animation and seamless transition to landing page. Executive tour replete with large and fast-loading CGI video demonstrations and brilliant voiceover of the finer features of the LS. User controlled beauty 360° spin on landing page. Industry response to the sight has been overwhelming, and we won Site Of The Day on theFWA.com.

What was your experience at AllNewLS.com?

If you have a really small monitor, please click here to view the archive.

The outgoing Lexus ES was unable to connect emotionally with consumers. We needed to show that the new ES made a big visual statement of its owner’s success. Upon seeing the car for the first time, consumers described the car as sleek, sharp, and even sexy—words that would never be used to describe the past model. We showcased the new ES as a vehicle designed to appeal as much to one’s heart as to one’s head.

Notable features of this site: Beautiful intro animation and transitions. Video clips of the four senses – Sight, Sound, Touch, and Taste – that can be controlled with your cursor. Dreamy orchestral/spa style soundtrack utilizing musical rollover sounds that turn the user into a composer. An oversized gallery of images that can be initiated from any image on the site. Large flyaround 360’s and CGI demos of product features. Targeted for 1024×768, but resizeable for very large monitors. Industry response has been extremely positive.

What do you think of AllNewES.com?

If you have a really small monitor, please click here to view the archive.

Here are a couple of the ad banners that linked to the site: Senses and Style.

Just a little image I put together to present the new IS anchor (that I shot with Thomas Strogalski) and strip images to Lexus. The strip image is created from two stock images and a CGI vehicle. I did the strip retouching to match the photographic anchor image. It’s fun to color coordinate, isn’t it?

In addition, here is the final Anchor Animation and Home Page Animation made from the still photos.